


All Roads Lead to You

by tiniestmite



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Car Accidents, Carlos Reyes Needs a Hug (9-1-1 Lonestar), Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Whump, doesn't realize they've been injured
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27245407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiniestmite/pseuds/tiniestmite
Summary: It was dark.It was dark, and he couldn’t move.So far that’s the only thing Carlos could gauge about his current situation that he was only just becoming aware of.~We all needed another Carlos + car accident fic right?
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984406
Comments: 16
Kudos: 145
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Whumptober 2020





	All Roads Lead to You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mtnofgrace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mtnofgrace/gifts).



> Written for the “Doesn’t realize they’ve been injured” square on my bthb card (open for requests - see the board [here](https://officerrxyes.tumblr.com/) :) 
> 
> Requested by @mtnofgrace who said “For tbth bingo if you get some inspiration for it: Doesn't know they've been injured with Carlos being the one injured for a change and tk freaking out when he finds out. ❤”
> 
> Title from "Too Cure What Ails" by Shakey Graves

It was dark. 

It was dark, and he couldn’t move. 

So far that’s the only thing Carlos could gauge about his current situation that he was only just becoming aware of.

“Reyes are you with me?”

Someone was with him. Paul?  _ Why would Paul be here? _

“Strickland?” He croaks out, starting to open eyes. 

He was in his car.

He was in an accident. 

“Yeah. Man, it’s good to see those eyes of yours. Do you remember what happened?”

“I, uh...” he searches his brain trying to recall the events that brought him to this moment. He does remember getting in the car and driving. Finding only a gap in his memory, he shakes his head at Paul’s question, wincing as the movement causes the pounding pain in his head to become more apparent. 

“That’s okay, that’s okay,” Paul repeats while his eyes gaze over Carlos’ body. 

Becoming more aware of the situation, he picks up on Paul’s labored breathing and shaky hands. For a man who is usually perfect at keeping his composure, Carlos can clearly tell Paul is struggling to stay calm. 

It then dawns on him that he is still in the car, despite the fact that he has an entire fire crew surrounding him, working around him. 

“What’s going on, Paul? Why haven’t you helped me out of the car yet?”

“Well...” he starts to say but is cut off by the crackling of the radio strapped to his chest. He steps away but Carlos is able to make out, or at least he thinks he hears him say “Strand.” 

_ TK. _

Of course TK is here. With Paul talking to him, and with a quick glimpse around he can already spot Judd and Mateo working on the front of his car. It would only make sense that the rest of the 126, including his boyfriend, wouldn’t be far behind. 

The next thing he knows, TK is climbing into the passenger seat next to him. He appears to be holding himself together, but Carlos can read him far too well. If the panicked look in his eyes is anything to go by, there’s something no one is telling him. 

“Hey,” TK says breathlessly. “How are you holding up?”

“TK, what’s going on?”

“It’s fine, you’re fine,” TK says, but Carlos isn’t sure which one of them he is trying to convince. 

He tries to shift his body more towards the other man but finds himself to be more pinned by the dashboard than he realized. When he realizes he can’t move at all his breathing begins to pick up. “TK…”

“Hey, it’s okay. Just don’t move.”   
  
“TK, just tell me what’s going on. Why am I still in the car?”

“Okay,” he nods at Carlos’ request. “It’s just that, your right leg is definitely broken.”

“How badly?” 

“Carlos, I can see the bone…” 

His stomach turns at the thought of his bone piercing out his leg. That explains why he can’t move. And why they are being careful about getting him out of the car. When he tries to focus on feeling his right leg, he finds that it’s just numb. 

“As soon as they remove the front of your car, I’m going to splint it and we can get you out of here,” TK adds, breaking Carlos from his downward spiraling thoughts.

He gives a small nod, unable to find the words to speak. 

TK begins to rub small circles on his back. “Just breathe, okay?” 

Carlos didn’t even realize his breathing had picked up its pace, coming in short panicked pants.. He nods again, wishing he could block out the knowledge that his leg was currently broken in two so he could keep up the conversation with TK. Instead that seems to be all he can focus on. 

Eventually, he feels the release of pressure as the entire front of his beautiful blue Camaro is taken off. It didn’t even occur to him until now to think about how his car was officially totaled. He doesn’t have too much time to dwell on though because a blinding pain quickly overtakes the numbness he had grown accustomed to from being pinned in.

“Carlos, are you still with me?” 

He opens his eyes, not even realizing he had closed them, and looks down to find TK securing a large yellow splint around his right leg. His right leg which he could clearly see was in fact broken. He leans back, trying to settle the unease that came from that image. Before he can respond, he is met with a wave of blackness that washes over him. 

* * *

“Can I get you anything? You look uncomfortable,” TK says as he plops down next to Carlos on the bed, careful not to jostle him too much. 

He sighed at his boyfriend's question. He had just gotten home from the hospital this morning and in the few hours since, TK had yet to ease up on the mother-henning.

“Whatever would give you the impression that I’m uncomfortable,” he sarcastically replies. “I’m fine, TK. Really. Just lay here with me?”

TK smiles and scooches up closer to him, pressing up against the headboard and leaning into him. Carlos instantly relaxes, wrapping his arm around TK as the other man leans into him.

As TK nuzzles more into him, Carlos can’t help but stare down the foot of the bed, stopping at his right leg now fully encased in long red cast. Having broken bones in the past, he was used to the issues concerning the itchiness and lack of mobility. But this time just felt different. Now staring at his leg brought back memories from the day before; images of the white bone piercing through his skin and the intense pain that came before he blacked out.

“You’re going to burn a hole in your cast if you keep staring at it.”

Startled by TK’s interjection, he quickly looks away and instead meets his boyfriend's gaze. “Well I can’t help it. Someone bullied me to pick a more fun color for it when I really just wanted to go with white,” he replies back with a smirk.

“White is just too boring. Besides, you picked red because you knew it was my favorite color, not just because it’s more fun,” TK says, with the hint of blush running into his cheeks. “Are you doing okay though? Yesterday was… rough.”

Carlos gives a small shrug. “I keep replaying all the events in my head. Even if I try to focus on other stuff, it just won’t stop.”

“Do you remember what happened before we got there?”

“Kind of. I remember getting in the car. Not sure where I was going though. And I remember stopping at the light. But when it turned green, I started to go but I guess a car ran the light…”

TK nods, grabbing Carlos’s hand while waiting for him to continue. 

“I tried to hit the brakes but I couldn’t stop in time… it’s just black after that. The next thing I remember is Paul talking to me, and then you getting there.”

“I’m so sorry, Carlos.”

Carlos just brushes him off. “It’s fine, I’m okay now.”

“Are you?”

_ Is he?  _ That wasn’t something he really thought about. It was more or less an automatic response at this point. 

But they had both been through worse, and this was just another thing to add to the list of unfortunate events they had experienced in their relationship. And looking at the man laying next to him, Carlos realizes that there is no one else he would rather go through it all with.

“I will be,” he finally says, while placing a kiss on top of TK’s head.

**Author's Note:**

> I love comments/kudos
> 
> Come annoy me on [tumblr](https://officerrxyes.tumblr.com/) :)


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